"There are severe bush-fires in NSW at the moment. I actually lost my S13 Silvia to a bush fire. When I heard that the fires were headed our way I jumped in the VL Commodore with my mum to try and save it. The Police didn't allow us in as the whole Suburb was in lock down, and rightly so as the fire was extreme. There was a chance that the fire might miss the property where my car was parked. I waited and waited, and hoped and waited. And then I almost just kind of knew. I could feel that it was gone. Eventually I got a phone call a couple of hours later from a friend who just said "Its gone mate". That night on the Ch10 news I saw footage of it on fire. Seeing your car on the news on fire is something that I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I cant even imagine what it must be like for people who have lost so much more. The next day I was allowed to go and see it. And this is what I saw...

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Just Car Insurance paid me out, and I imported a 180SX from Japan. I kind of never saw the 180SX as a "new" car. I felt like it was my Silvia reborn. Stronger and better and I got to work making it the best I could with the money I had. I guess we make up stories in our minds to try and make sense of it and I always felt that my 180 somehow carried some of the Silvia along with it.

A lot of people around me at the time I lost the Silvia were saying "its just a car. buy another one". And I remember thinking - do these people really think its possible to BUY what we have? The passion. The love you have for your car. The thrill of the drive. The twist of the spanner. The crack of the bolt and the turn of the key. You can't buy this stuff. You earn it by having a relationship with your car over time and in turn you get to know yourself better. The good times. The bad times. The rewards and the frustration. Its a journey, just like we have with people.

I had no idea back then that 10 years later I'd be making a show about cars with a million people watching it a week. And I'm happy to say that I don't think anyone in the MCM tribe thinks these things are "just a car". It really is so much more than that. A mindset and a personal expression. And there's this amazing resourcefulness thats abundant in the people who watch our show that we see every time we travel around the world and meet MCM fans. We don't see crap cars and dented panels. We see people with stories. People with something to learn. Dirty hands and cars that probably would have ended up as scrap. Its why we celebrate the broken. The dusty. The cheap. The guys that turn up to MCM meets in whatever they can afford. Doing repairs on the side of the road just to turn up and say "I'm here. I made it!".

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Because no matter what the media, authorities and people say about the "car scene" and modified cars, there's millions of us on roads all over the planet. Millions of people who understand it. Millions of people who are learning. Millions of people that don't have the money for a "cool" car. Millions of people who express themselves through their cars. Millions of people who will help others change a tyre or change the oil. Millions of people who know its so much more than just a collection of bolts, metal and plastic.

So if you've ever felt like you have an unhealthy obsession for cars and driving - you're not alone. We get it. And there's millions of others just like you who get it too.

So drive on people. There's a lot of roads out there to explore, and a lot of cars to fix. Just try and keep them away from bush fires!

UPDATE: I'm happy to read that all of you could relate so well to this, and, to the few that have stories very similar to this as well, keep on driving but don't forget about that special car. Also, I am surprised that MCM has never been talked about on the main jalopnik page, but they run a great YouTube channel that ALL of you should check out here if you haven't already. Marty and Moog are hilarious, and their show is actually very awesome with a ton of DIY's that are very, very, very helpful as well as very entertaining.